Take the competition to become this year’s Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association’s junior king. The Daphne High School senior, who goes by Lawrence, said he believed he would come out on top when the organization made its selection.

“I kind of felt like I had the interview,” he said.

Sledge, the son of Teresa and Harold Sledge I, does not mean that to be cocky. It is just a confidence that comes with success inside and outside the classroom.

Teresa Sledge said her son has been an honor roll student since elementary school. She said she and her husband always assured him he could accomplish anything in life.

“I’m very proud of him and happy for him,” she said. “He’s always had lots of achievements in life. He’s always kept a level head.”

Lawrence Sledge said he applied to be king at the suggestion of Amber Sanders, a LeFlore High School senior who ended up becoming the MAMGA junior queen. He said the two have been friends through various civic and volunteer activities.

“It’s something different, and I’m open to different things,” he said.

And Sledge actually brings some Mardi Gras experience to the role, if you are willing to go back a decade or so. When he was 6, he recalled, he and his sister joined their father in a skit at a Mardi Gras association called the Knights of Joy.

“One year, I was actually in one of his balls,” he said.

Harold Sledge portrayed an Indian chief, while Lawrence Sledge and his sisters were children of the chief.

Sledge keeps a busy schedule outside of academics. He serves as president of the Mobile Kappa League, a community service organization. He also is active in the Student Government Association, the National Honor Society and Peer Mentors, which helps counsel fellow students.

Sledge competes in the hurdles on the Daphne track and field team, as well.

Sledge said he hopes to earn a pre-pharmacy degree from Xavier University in New Orleans. He said he was drawn to the pharmacy field by a Walgreens pharmacist who has encouraged him.

<cb>“I got the opportunity to go shadow him a couple of times, and I loved what he did,” Sledge said.

Sledge’s royal attire, designed by Patricia Halsell-Richardson, will consist of a burgundy crushed velvet train with an outer border of white fur to represent his Native American heritage.

The border is made up of pheasant feathers. Three oval medallions make up the body of the robe. At the top is his family tree with a cross in the center jeweled in family members’ birthstones. To the left is a replica of the Daphne Trojan. To the right of the Trojan is the Kappa League crest.

At the base of train is the king’s initials, H.L.S., made of metallic nappa leather.

Sledge’s costume is an 18th-century-style coat made of burgundy velvet, covered in metallic gold embroidery leaves, encrusted with Swarovski Aurora Borealis crystal and trimmed in a gold beaded braid. A silk nicker complements his suit.

Sledge said he has attended plenty of Mardi Gras parades — “as many as possible” — over the years. This year will be different and special, he said.